1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of security systems in a telecommunications network. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for power management in an auxiliary alarm system linked to in a Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Security systems operate by delivering a signal from a home or business to local officials (i.e. local police, security agency, medical unit, etc.) in the event of an emergency. The signal is delivered over an established channel, typically over the phone connection. The power to operate some of these security systems is drawn from conventional (110/120 V AC typical) commercial power sources. The voltage potential on the Service Provider's POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) is simply for powering the voice circuity/communication path from the security system to the telephone company network. Thus, a security system is fully functional whenever the phone connection is intact but leaves the premises vulnerable when the phone connection is lost. In anticipation of this situation, current security systems are designed to detect the occurrence of a lost phone connection by reacting the loss of power on the POTS line. If power is lost or a phone connection is cut, the security system typically alerts the resident through a pre-programmed mechanism, such as emitting an audio signal or flashing a light-emitting diode.
In traditional phone networks, an electrical signal travels from a central office over copper wires connecting to phone termination points, such as a network interface device (NID) at a home or business. New advances in telephony now provide the ability to transmit telephone signals using light signals sent over fiber optic cable rather than as electrical signals sent over copper cable. Although fiber optic cable is commonly used for transmission over large distances, optical signals are generally converted to electrical signals before arriving at the termination point. At present, there is a movement in the industry to provide Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) connections, i.e. an optical connection all the way to the NID. In addition to FTTP, there is a novel field of telephone communications, exemplified by Voice over Internet Protocol (Voice over IP, or VoIP) and Voice over Asynchronous Transfer Mode (Voice over ATM, or VoATM) which transfers signals using different methods than traditional phone connections. The new access architectures that utilize VoATM/FTTP and VoIP alters how voice service has traditionally been delivered in order to maintain a transparent migration to newer technologies.
In the newer forms of communications, it is possible for a customer premise to lose a telephone connection and still have line power (−48 volts DC) power present on the POTS line. This leaves the premise vulnerable to a breach of security without an alarm. If the phone is disconnected yet the (−48 volts DC) power is still present, the security system does not react to the condition of loss of connection. Although it is not possible to send a signal or call out to alert local officials, the security system is unaware of the vulnerability of the premises. Therefore, there is a need to notify a security system of the loss of a phone connection in newer generation telephone architecture, such as exemplified by FTTP.